$18.00 - $20.00

This event is 16 and over

Share This Event

Sometimes the only way to get ahead is to stop following the leader, and start running your own race. Coast Modern flies out of the pack with a refreshingly uninhibited sound for disenchanted dreamers everywhere. Building on an admiration for the spirit of misfit alternative bands and the fearless ethos of modern hip hop, the duo creates alternative pop with a wink that aims to push the genre into the future. Seattle-native Luke Atlas and LA-local Coleman Trapp met while working as Los Angeles-based songwriters, fellow rats in the race to land songs with mainstream pop artists. After more than two years of peddling some great, some terrible, and some very weird creations at the gates of the mainstream, they received little more than fleeting glances. Watching so many of their creations die on the operating table left the two burnt out and questioning their path. With just a backpack and a tape recorder, Coleman escaped his oversaturated hometown for the mountainous serenity of Denver, Colorado. What was meant to be a quick, head-clearing vacation soon turned into months as Coleman blended into the community, working at a used instrument store, and enjoying the simple pleasures of a “normal” life. Without the pressure of writing-on-demand, he began messing around on a borrowed acoustic guitar and recording tossed-off ditties on an old cassette recorder through the smallest hours of the night. The pure, child-like enjoyment of writing only for himself led Coleman to a realization: maybe he’d overlooked a path that was right in front of him the whole time.
Soon, warbly tape recordings began appearing in Luke’s inbox. “At first I didn’t think much of these songs because they were so different, but they kept randomly getting stuck in my head” says Luke, who further encouraged Coleman’s experiments. On a whim, Luke created a production around one of the acoustic demos and sent it back. Coleman was thrilled. “It felt like this could be something,” says Luke. “I told him to get his ass back to LA.”Returning with renewed vigor and a rusted-out car hood after a Mile-High winter, Coleman quickly sought out Luke. With their new musical experiments buzzing in their heads, the pair discussed creating a personal project based purely on the whims of their creative spark,
wherever that led them. “After we stopped shooting at an invisible moving target and had no agenda, that’s when the sound came,” explains Luke. And Coleman, who had not so much as even sung “Happy Birthday” until a few years prior, began finding the confidence to take frontman status, lending his vocals to the tracks that began to take form through a playful, stream-of-consciousness process.
One of the first songs they plucked from the ether together was “Hollow Life.” An anthem for
restless souls everywhere, the lyrics drip with the same frustration the duo once felt for their city,
while Coleman yearns for a simpler life away from it all. “Racing towards a dream on the horizon / Gimme something better than this Hollow Life,” he sings over plinking marimba mashed up with angular fuzzy bass and booming 808 kick drums.

“The song is about finding distance from what is hindering you, whether it be physical or mental distance,” explains Coleman. “But we’re no gurus. We’re just trying to let people know that we’re
here figuring this shit out too.”
Coast Modern followed “Hollow Life” with another addicting earworm called “Animals,” and then reggae-tinged single, ‘Guru’, a perfect jam for slow summer days. Their fourth single, ‘The Way It Was,’ celebrates the present moment with a groove fit for a tropical jungle cruise. While the world was busy re-blogging and pushing repeat, their tunes were creeping up the Hype Machine charts, with each of the four singles charting at #1 or #2, racking up a cool 12 million streams. Their eclectic sound caught the ears of a multitude of media, including Pigeons and Planes, Billboard, Vanity Fair, Entertainment Weekly, NYLON and Interview Magazine. Their songs began receiving spins on SiriusXM Alt Nation, KCRW, KEXP and Zane Lowe’s
show on Beats 1. After playing their first ever shows at SXSW in 2016, they were scooped up to tour with acts like BORNS, The Wombats, and The Temper Trap on nationwide tours. Behind the scenes, Luke and Coleman were busy knocking out a myriad of unreleased jams for their forthcoming LP - due for release in Spring 2017. The entire album was written, recorded
and produced by the duo in Luke’s living room, leading to an organic and distinctively Coast Modern sound. The songs travel all over the musical spectrum, from “Dive,” a bouncy tribute to nascent romance, to the psychedelic, weird and wild “Comb My Hair,” to the hip hop leaning
anthem 'Pockets.' Digging deeper, there's 'Wild Things' which encompasses a wistful meditation on the passage of time, and the slow-burning, fireplace crackling “Frost,” recorded at the dawn
of Coast Modern. Coast Modern have the rare capability of covering a large swath of musical territory, yet a strong, self-aware voice and a sense of groove tie them all together. With their destiny now grasped firmly in their own hands, Luke and Coleman are reveling in the freedom of their newfound artist status. At the will of their muses instead of the tidal flow of the pop world, the group can create the genuine, self-assured music that had been locked inside. Coast Modern is what happens when you let go of what you always thought you wanted and embrace the unexpected; when you stop chasing and start taking the lead.